Study, Angel with Musical Instrument 

Curator: Welcome. We’re standing before a preparatory sketch entitled "Study, Angel with Musical Instrument." While the date remains unknown, the piece is attributed to Edwin Austin Abbey. It is rendered in pastel. Editor: Whoa, a faceless angel strumming a lute…or is it a mandolin? It feels both heavenly and slightly…melancholy, like a celestial musician whose gig got canceled. The dark background with the sharp lines of reddish, perhaps, wings give it an unexpected edge. Curator: Indeed. Abbey was a very successful painter and illustrator known for his historical and literary subjects, particularly scenes from Shakespeare. Editor: Shakespearean angels! Now that’s a thought. Makes me think of Ariel from The Tempest. There’s something about the way this angel is presented that gives the image a contemporary moodiness; it doesn’t quite feel like those cherubic Renaissance paintings of pudgy babies with harps. It makes me want to reach out to touch those wing-like marks of pastel! Curator: Abbey, like many artists of his time, was influenced by the Symbolist movement. Artists drew on mythology and dream imagery to express complex emotional and philosophical ideas. This would fit right in that canon, considering his angel is androgynous, perhaps even sexless. The vagueness forces us to look inside, if you will. Editor: Absolutely! It's haunting, really. Like a ghostly visitor, an almost frightening emanation from another dimension where even the blessed are riddled with doubts or longings that come with life – even without a face. This work becomes an allegory of ourselves if the premise can be that we also are divine or godly. Curator: Considering that this work appears to be a preliminary study, it would be intriguing to know what Abbey might have planned for this mysterious character. Editor: Yes, what harmonies, heavenly or not, would this strange faceless minstrel conjure? I'm almost relieved we only have a glimpse! Curator: I think this pastel, like many works of art, invites questions instead of offering answers. And in doing so, it connects to the viewers' imagination, making each experience of it unique. Editor: Well put! It’s proof that unfinished or preliminary work can hold a certain power, just in its tentative and evocative spirit.